A FESTIVAL designed to bring the whole community together is being planned for Swindon this summer.

The Town Gardens Little Big Festival will be aimed at people of all ages and will be an opportunity to promote individual businesses, clubs and societies.

The event is being organised by Josie Williams, the community arts development officer at The Commonweal School, who is looking for people to get involved to ensure it is a success.

She said: “I have no funding, but am looking for people to provide workshops, games, entertainment as a way to bring the community together and to promote individual businesses, clubs and societies.

“Most events are free, but some have a small charge just to cover staffing or material costs by groups.

“The festival starts at the end of April and continues until September, and is a series of little events which means we don’t need road closures or extra toilets. Over the months the little events will make up one big festival.

“This is a new concept, but as funding is so naff at the moment, this is the only way forward and hopefully will be a win win situation for all who take part.”

Each group will be responsible for their own activities in terms of CRB, insurance and delivery and Josie will pull it all together and promote the event as a whole.

Commonweal headteacher Keith Defter said the inspiration behind the festival came after a visit to New York last Easter.

“In one of the parks close to Times Square there was a year-round programme of events and acitivities designed to cater for New Yorkers aged eight to 80, which not only provided them with much needed leisure opportunities but generated a fantastic community spirit,” he said.

“On a much smaller scale, getting more use out of our local gardens, and getting more of our local community involved in activities that are good for them just makes sense.

“The key to this project is keeping it small and affordable - both in terms of costs and investment in time from those running it.

“Whether it ultimately succeeds will be down to the community itself, but it’s certainly worth giving it a go.”